Destiny Under Construction
by LitLove
Summary: #Prompt 38: Katniss and Peeta are destined for each other. But when destiny is tired of the countess fail attempts, she makes one last attempt for them to get their happily ever after. Does it work this time? [submitted by @animekpopxx] - Everlark Fic Exchange Spring Edition 2018, MODERN AU, Everlark
1. Rogue, the Shithead

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Suzanne Collins has all the rights. Just love the characters and do this purely out of fun.

 **A/N:** Written for the Everlark Fic Exchange Spring 2018 Edition over at tumblr. My prompt was:

 _#Prompt 38: Katniss and Peeta are destined for each other. But when destiny is tired of the countess fail attempts, she makes one last attempt for them to get their happily ever after. Does it work this time? [submitted by animekpopxx]_

I'm already working on the next chapters, but who knows when I'll be able to finish that. We'll see ...

Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.

Ta-ta!

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 **CHAPTER ONE - ROGUE, THE SHITHEAD**

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At the beginning of the universe-

No, wait. That's reaching too far back. I don't need to start with the beginning of everything. Actually, I just have to start with Saturday two weeks ago. Everything else will simply be too far fetched. I'm sorry, that stuff tends to get away from me.

So, let's start again.

Saturday, two weeks ago I found myself and my brother sitting at the counter of a bar somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Connecticut. We sometimes do that, choose some random town, search for a bar and play our game _If we'd interfere there_.

Now you're probably asking yourself what the fuck I'm talking about. _Who_ the fuck we actually are.

Well, my name's Destiny. In other regions of the world I'm called Destinée, Schicksal, Destino, Ventura, Ming, Sina, Los and so on. Although I look like a twenty-something, I'm actually much older than any human brain could ever comprehend. When everything started, I was already there, together with my brother Rogue and my parents, Faith and Time. There are some uncles, aunts and cousins as well, but you know how it is with family. You talk once in a while and only meet when someone marries or dies.

While we had a lot of business during the Ancient Times and the Middle Ages, nowadays we hardly interfere with mankind. They're pretty self-sustaining. But now and then, we have some fun with the smaller stuff, like weather forecasts. Rogue, for example, loves to mess with big sporting events.

Ever asked yourself why suddenly an outsider won Olympic Gold? Well, now you have the answer. It's because my brother has no self control most of the time.

Back to the story. So, Rogue and I were sitting at the counter at the bar. It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but it's actually a monthly occurrence.

"So, anything new happening?" he asked while eating the peanuts from the bowl in front of us. I'm not sure he's aware what they say about peanuts and their hygienic state when it comes to bars.

"You're trying to deflect," I simply ignored his nonchalance. "Don't think I don't know what you did with the Super Bowl."

Rogue just shrugged and took another handful of the snack, but his smirk said enough.

"Why exactly do you constantly mess with this stuff?"

"Hey!" he exclaimed, somehow offended although I was laughing. "At least I use my gift once in a while. When was the last time you ' _bestowed someone with their fate_ '? You're getting rusty, sis."

"Not fair!" I shouted; a couple of heads turned in our direction. "I try to let people decide their own destiny, you know that. I only interfere when they stray too far."

"Like the two over there?"

His mental leap gave me whiplash, but I couldn't help turning in the direction my brother pointed. As soon as my eyes rested on the group of people, the different colors invaded my sight.

At this point I should probably explain a little how this fate-business works.

So, imagine a huge field filled with people - all different ages, sizes, characters, skins - and every single one of them has his own color. There are blues and reds and greens, mixed with yellows and pinks. Violets and browns, occasionally even a grey or black. The colors swirl around them like dust against the sunlight. Or mist rising at dawn. Sometimes, they show how the person is feeling at the moment, if they're ready for a change, or stuck in a situation. Similar colors mean a better understanding between people.

We call them soul-colors.

Sometimes, you can even tell if they met the soul they're supposed to meet. The colors of the two people start to draw them to each other, then. Like someone pulling you on a string in the right direction.

And sometimes - very seldomly - you actually get people with no color. A kind of white light surrounds them. In the rare cases that this happens, the soul is waiting for their destined companion, and once together, they erupt into the same color.

If you ever wanted an explanation for soulmates, I guess that's is the closest thing there is.

Well, that's the basics, more or less. We don't have to go into the details now to understand how it works. Back to that Saturday evening …

At first I had no idea what my brother was talking about.

I saw a couple a little to the back, both wrapped in a similar strawberry red. He was tall, dark and handsome, and his hands were buried in the blonde hair of the girl while she held onto his waist as they kissed. But it wasn't the strawberry red couple my focus was on, but the two people standing near them, one on either side, backs to each other.

The young woman vibrated in a dark forest green. It was intense, showing she's very down to earth, knows her place in the world. Her dark hair was in a braid over her shoulder and her silver eyes flashed with mirth. She was on the petite side, but had strong shoulders and toned arms and legs. I supposed she did some kind of endurance sport.

The guy she was talking to flashed in the prettiest gold I'd ever seen, it made his bronze hair shine like a crown and his green eyes shimmer like the ocean. An amused laugh escaped him, and the smirk that adorned his features afterwards brought out the dimples in his cheeks.

Seriously, even my cousin Beau (short for Beauty, which he hates and is a constant source of amusement within the family) isn't this ridiculously beautiful. But back to the story.

Facing away from them, a little distance away, stood a guy. He was talking to a busty blonde and her boyfriend, their different shades of turquoise intermingling. The guy himself was surrounded in a swirl of sunset orange, making his blond hair look like a burning flame. His sapphire blue eyes though beamed, unaffected by his soul-color. He wasn't especially tall, but his shoulders were broad, his torso forming a delicious V.

And then something fascinating happened. Forest green-girl turned slightly to grab her drink at the same time sunset orange-guy turned to order another beer from the bartender. As they briefly glanced at each other their colors started to fade.

I gasped, looking wide-eyed at my brother. "Did you see that, too?"

"Yup," he shrugged, making the P pop, and took another sip from his whiskey. When he put the glass down, I punched him in the arm. Hard.

"Fuck!" Rogue yowled, immediately rubbing the spot where I hit him. "What's wrong with you?!"

" _Fucking fading colors_! That's what's wrong!" Even to my own ears I sounded slightly hysteric.

For explanation: fading colors isn't an everyday occurrence. Quite the opposite. In all my time walking this realm _not once_ had I encountered this before. There were rumors. Legends. Fairy Tales. People with missed opportunities mysteriously meeting again, abandoning their own colors. Creating something special: Multi-colors.

"I need to get to the bottom of this." Surely my face showed my determination, because my brother didn't even try to stop me from walking over for the _End Titles_. That's how we refer to one of my gifts. When I allow it and somehow touch a person, I'm able to see all the fate-altering encounters they've had so far, just like credits after a movie.

Pretending to walk over to the old fashioned jukebox to switch songs, I concentrated and allowed my fingers to brush the hair at the end of forest green-girl's braid.

Time slowed to a standstill. I turned and the current location changed to another scene.

A church. At the front, surrounding the organ, gathered a bunch of people. All of them held a sheet of paper in their hand. In the center front stood a little girl. She was maybe five or six. She wore a red dress, and her dark hair was in two braids instead of one.

Forest green-girl. But at this point in her life she didn't have her forest green color yet. She was surrounded by white light. Interesting.

"Katniss," the man at the organ turned to her. "As soon as the choir stops after the first verse, it's your turn to sing the chorus, all right?" The little girl nodded enthusiastically, making her braids bounce up and down.

The organist started to play, the choir set in. Then they finished the first verse.

Katniss, as I know now, took a deep breath, opened her mouth and started to sing. Her white light flashed once, and I turned from watching her to observe my surroundings. At the hall's entrance stood a little boy. His blonde hair was an inch too long, constantly falling into his eyes, which were fixated on the singing child.

No soul-color for him either. Huh.

"Peeta!" a harsh whisper interrupted his staring, his eyes immediately averting towards his toes. "I told you to keep close. Why do you never listen?!" A woman appeared beside him, grabbing his upper arm and pulling him away.

"I'm sorry, Mom," he apologized in a whisper, before my surroundings blurred and I found myself in the next memory.

A graveyard. A bunch of people, all wearing black clothing, surrounded an open grave. A priest was reciting some verse from the bible. Katniss stood together with a smaller girl and a woman who, I assume, was her mother. They were directly in front of the casket, their heads bowed. She was still colorless.

When her light flickered again, I discover Peeta on the other side of the graveyard, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. I blinked once and watched as he put the flowers in a vase beside a gravestone inscribed with _Gregory Mellark_. By the birth date shown on it, I assumed it must be his grandfather. The boy looked up and I saw his light flicker when his eyes turn to the procession at the open grave, which by now was slowly trickling away. The only one who remained was Katniss, still standing there staring down. On instinct Peeta grabbed one of the flowers from the bouquet and started walking in her direction.

I blinked and was standing again behind Katniss. The provisional cross at the grave read _Caleb Everdeen_. With a deep sigh, Katniss turned and stepped away from the casket, brushing away a single tear from her cheek.

After a couple of steps she turned back, by instinct maybe, just in time to see a blond boy placing a sunflower at the food of the cross.

My surroundings blurred again.

This time, I found myself in a hospital. Doctors and nurses rushed around, everyone was busy. I discovered Peeta walking with a slightly older version of himself who was hobbling on crutches towards the exit. An older, blonde man walked on the other side. Peeta was not yet an adult, but definitely in his teens. The baby fat had melted into a slim waist, strong shoulders and defined arms. Again, no soul-color.

"How was physical therapy today, Rye?" the older man asked the teen on the crutches. The boy answered, but I wasn't interested in his reply, because Peeta's light flickered when he turned his head just slightly. His eyes skimmed over a young, dark haired woman frantically calling for a doctor. Her arm was wrapped around the shoulders of a blonde girl with tears in her eyes, clutching her arm protectively. A few dark strands of hair had escaped the braid falling over her shoulder.

Peeta stepped through the sliding doors with his family and the scene disappeared.

Next I was in the middle of a frat party. Beside me, a shirtless douche, wearing a loincloth, played tonsil hockey with a slutty nurse. Ah, it's Halloween. Fucking great, I hate that stupid holiday.

It took a little while to find Katniss in the costumed throng. She was dressed in a long, white robe, a golden holster filled with arrows strapped to the back, together with a golden bow. Her feet were in gladiator sandals.

Well, at least she got that right about cousin Artemis.

She was with a friend, who I recognized as the strawberry-red girl from the bar. Strawberry-red guy was just making his way over to them. Figures they met on Halloween. Katniss smirked when she saw him approach, and excused herself, muttering something about needing another drink. She turned and headed in the direction of the kitchen.

It's the same as every time before: Her light flickered and instinctively she turned her head. Her eyes fell on a guy, and it actually made her stop. He wore a military green jumpsuit with sewn-on badges and aviator sunglasses.

Peeta must have sensed her eyes on him because he turned in her direction as well. For a split second their eyes met, their white light becoming distinctly brighter. But then a blonde Victoria's Secret's Angel wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her tongue down his throat, which he reciprocated wholeheartedly.

Katniss didn't even blink, and continued in the direction of the kitchen.

I couldn't hold back my frustrated sigh. We were four near interactions in, and they hadn't even exchanged a single word yet. It was one of the longest searches I had encountered so far.

And then we were at it again. Blur, new scene. This gets me fucking dizzy.

Lecture hall. Rule of thumb estimate about 200 people were sitting and listening to a pudgy man talk about the economy or something. This went on for some minutes in which I had time to find Katniss and Peeta in the crowd. They were sitting surprisingly far apart.

The professor upfront announced for the second semester all of them would be paired up for a project they would have to present before finals and which would make half of their grade.

For the first time since I started _End Titles_ I felt giddy, because I knew this is when they were supposed to meet. I knew, because I'm Destiny and stuff like that is my business. They'll get paired up and everything will be fine.

Only a second later I realized the mistake in my thinking: If they really met that day, why didn't they know each other in the present?

Movement behind the professor caught my eye, and my eyebrows knit together. On top of the huge chalkboard, feet dangling and smirking mischievously, sat none other than my idiot brother.

"Are you fucking serious?!" I grumbled under my breath, and saw the disaster unfold in front of me.

"Katniss Everdeen," the professor called out and she straightened, her white light flickering like mad. From the corner of my eye I recognized Peeta's light doing the same. The professor reached into the bowl to draw another name and the moment he grabbed for the piece of paper, Rogue flicked his wrist.

"Thresh Montgomery."

Nearly bursting into tears I had to watch how the white lights flashed once more and then went out. A moment later, Katniss started to shimmer a soft green and Peeta's aura turned into the first hues of sunset orange.

That was it. There were no more encounters planned for them. Their opportunities missed, their souls no longer waiting for each other, they gained their own individual soul-colors.

And still, somehow they ended up in the same bar, at the same time. Maybe not all hope was lost yet.

Once again, my surroundings became indistinct and the blink of an eye later I was back in the bar, reaching for the jukebox.

For the human brain, my brushing by happened in a split second.

I chose a random song before making my way back to my brother, silently vibrating from my anger.

"Rogue!" I barked when I was within hearing distance, throwing mental daggers at him. "This is your fault, asshole!"

" _Moi_?" he pretend gasped, looking bored and taking another sip. He can be such a fucking dumbass. I snapped my fingers and sent him the memory.

"You intervened and they didn't meet when they were supposed to!" My teeth were grinding and I was seconds away from jumping at him and scratching his eyes out. Was he for real?

Rogue let the memory play out in his mind, nodding along in agreement. Then he turned to me with a single eyebrow raised. "Hello?! You wanted me to risk not messing with the _Southeastern Conference_?"

"What?!"

"Southeastern Conference. College Football? If Thresh Montgomery had failed Heavenbee's course, he would've been benched and Vanderbilt wouldn't have beaten Missouri. What would've been the fun in that? Kitty-Kat there had been the best in that course, Thresh needed the grade. D'oh!" He had the nerve to roll his eyes, which was the last straw. I felt myself growing, again time came to a standstill. The lights around us dimmed and I knew my whole body was illuminated in a dangerous flaring aura. Rogue likes to call it my _Special Effects_.

He's fucking petrified of me whenever I explode because he's gone too far. Sometimes he forgets I'm the older and much more powerful sibling.

"Sis …" he raised his arms in a placating manner, and avoided looking directly at me. Last time I was in that mood, he spent a decade with blistering burns all over his body.

(Ever hear of Troy, the Greek city state? Well, _guess who had his fun there …_ )

"I know you have that thing for soulmates and all that shit, but seriously. It's just one pair-"

" _Rogue_!" I growled, and he knew that's even worse than me screaming my head off. "Listen now, shithead! You messed this up and once again it comes to me to fix it. And you will help, are we clear?"

"Des-"

" _I asked if we're clear_?!"

"Crystal," he replied without hesitation, nodding eagerly. I growled once more to ensure he understood I meant business, before I returned to my regular 5'2" and stopped the flaring of my aura. _Special Effects_ indeed.

Dad calls it dramatics.

Semantics.

With a satisfied nod and a half-formed plan in mind I turned around - ready to fulfill my name and all that shit - only to discover that Katniss was no longer standing beside the strawberry-red couple.

Her Shimmering Goldie date was gone, too.

Fuck.

Frantically searching the place, I spotted them making their way over to the exit.

Double fuck!

I had to stop them. I had no idea how, but I had to think of something. Quickly. Katniss' green was already showing some flecks of golden sparkles. My brain was frantically searching for a solution when I spotted a young woman at the bar, auburn hair softly curling around her head, green eyes shining warm, smiling softly. Her aura shone silvery.

Okay, close enough. Better than the not-destined gold/green combo for sure.

"Intervene! Now!" I hissed at my brother, pointing at the leaving couple and silver-pixie.

Rogue is a lot of trouble, but leave it to him, he's a quick thinker and has exceptionally fast reactions. The blink of an eye later, Silver's drink spilled all down Katniss' front. In the hustle that followed, neither Katniss nor Goldie were thinking about leaving.

I patted myself on the shoulder. At least I had stopped the immediate danger of Katniss ending up with the wrong guy. Next step: Getting Goldie and silver-pixie to talk and realize that they're way better suited anyway. Then I would make Katniss and Peeta finally cross paths.

Ha, when the evening's done I would once again have proved that I very much live up to my name, thank you very much.

To ensure that the first part of the plan went accordingly I sent Rogue over to have a couple more mishaps happen. Because I was in a forgiving mood, I even let him decide what he wanted to come up with.

With traces of amusement I watched silver-pixie try to assist Katniss in the clean-up, only to somehow _mysteriously_ slip on a piece of lime. Which resulted in her ending in Goldie's arms. And all of them sprawled together on the floor.

By now, strawberry-red couple had stopped their smooching and joined their friend to assist. The golden sparkles from Katniss' color had already started to vanish.

Okay, Rogue had everything under control over there, it was time for phase two.

With a broad grin, I turned around to start the next step and somehow get Peeta and Katniss to finally meet for real.

But my grin froze on my face. When I looked at where I'd last seen them, turquoise couple was gone. And Peeta with them.

Well, fuck.

 **TBC**


	2. Tuesday, the Bitch

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait, life and all that ... you know what I'm talking about. Hope you'll enjoy the 2nd chapter. Let me know what you think. ;)

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 **CHAPTER TWO - TUESDAY, THE BITCH**

* * *

Tuesday is a bitch.

I mean, literally. Tuesday is the biggest asshole of the seven sisters of the week. She constantly envies Sunday for being the youngest (and prettiest, but nobody is bold enough to tell her that to the face) but on the other hand rules like a dictator over her younger siblings. Only Monday has a little control over her, but that's simply because she's the actual firstborn.

While most of the time Monday is pretty decent, giving people time to adjust to the new week, Tuesday loves to torture them. Ever wondered why the phone never stops ringing as soon as your Tuesday workday starts?

Tuesday is also constantly on diet, therefore whenever she gets the chance, she makes you miss lunch.

And TV? Man, she has the worst taste ever. I mean _American Idol_? What season are they on now, thirty-seven or something?

What. The actual. Fuck?!

Also, things we know that happened on a Tuesday:

The Wall Street Crash was on October 29th, 1929. It's known as Black Tuesday.

Christmas nearly never falls on a Tuesday; it's more likely on any other day of the week.

Elvis died on a Tuesday.

I wonder if you'd hear brain activity when you put her on an EEG. Probably not, because when Big Deity, or God, or Allah, or however you want to call the Almighty, gave out brains, Tuesday was shopping for shoes or some other shit. When it comes to her, that blonde hotel heiress bimbo seems like the next Einstein.

Oh, and don't let me get started on that annoying sound that's her voice. She constantly sounds like squeaking tires, for fuck's sake.

Do I need to continue? I'm quite sure you get the picture I'm drawing here. You can probably guess, there's no love lost between me and her.

So of course my idiot brother screws her.

"Don't be mean," he keeps telling me. "She can bend like a pretzel!"

Therefore it was very, very, _very_ unfortunate that I had to ask a favor from her. I would rather have pulled my nails off, seriously.

But let's start from the beginning.

After the failed attempt to finally bring the destined souls of Katniss and Peeta together, I promised myself I'd work this out as fast as possible. So, Rogue and I sat down and started research. Yes, boring, I know. But we have to check out backgrounds and stuff like that just the same, to be prepared for what's to do and what's to come.

Well, Rogue does it mostly because he's a nosy bastard, but whatev.

Because neither Katniss or Peeta are spies or any other protected identity, we figured out their backgrounds pretty quickly.

In corner no. 1: Peeta Mellark, nearly thirty, single. He is co-owner of _Mellark's Bakery & Bistro_, which he founded together with his older brother Ryeland. He drinks his tea with no sugar, always double knots his shoelaces, works out regularly, is a part-time artist. He's also kind, funny and considerate. Volunteers every other Saturday at the youth center, and donates leftovers from his business to the food bank.

All in all he's a goody two shoes with killer abs and a pretty smile. He keeps his honey blonde hair short and sometimes forgets to shave, which accentuates his chiseled jaw perfectly. To top it off, I never saw a man with prettier eyelashes than Peeta Mellark. So, all in all the whole man is very swoon worthy.

In the other corner: Katniss Everdeen, also nearly thirty, also single. After her father died, her mother fell victim to a deep depression and was unable to care for her children. Thankfully, her godfather - one of her father's best friends - and his wife, Haymitch and Effie Abernathy, stepped in. They took custody of Katniss and her sister, Primrose. After finishing college with a business degree, Katniss joined the firm her father and his two best friends had started: AEH Plumbing Co. She decided to learn the trade from scratch.

She works out three times a week, together with her best friend and coworker, Gale Hawthorne. Who - as we found out at that point - is the male part of strawberry red couple. The circle closes.

She's loyal to the bone; sometimes seems rude and offensive, when she's really just straightforward and honest.

With her near ebony hair, silver eyes and olive complexion, paired with her no-shit attitude, Katniss has an effect on people, but isn't aware of it.

At this point Rogue decided we were done with research.

"Background check-ups get boring so fast, Des," he whined while twirling around in the swivel chair of my home office. "Let's start working on them meeting!"

I rolled my eyes at him, writing down another information I got on my fatees (Katniss: slightly allergic to pomegranates). "Research is important, twerp!"

He ignored me and continued his pirouettes with the chair.

When he suddenly jumped up, it was only in the last second I was able to hold onto the table in front of me before falling out of my own chair. Grabbing my upper arms he started to shake me, nearly giving me a concussion.

"I've got it!" he screamed full of excitement, making my ears ring. "You're gonna love it!"

I was sure I was gonna hate it.

"We're gonna make his pipe burst!"

Jesus Fucking Christ?! Was he serious?! I was right, I hated the idea.

 **xXx**

Half an hour later - and after explaining that his first blurt was actually not any kind of sexual innuendo for once - I had to admit that my brother's plan had some potential.

(For whatever reason he started to refer to it as Project Everlark.)

Step 1: Arrange for both businesses to have an extra slow day.

Step 2: Make the pipe in Peeta's business kitchen burst.

Step 3: Manipulate the Yellow Pages so AEH Plumbing Co. is the first one to appear.

Step 4: Make sure Katniss will respond to the emergency call and be there ASAP.

Step 5: Watch Everlark overcome all obstacles and join in blissful happiness for all eternity.

Easy as pie, right?

Wrong! Because after some more research we realized the slowest day for both was surprisingly the second one of the week. And that was where obnoxious Tuesday had to come into the picture.

First I tried to shift the responsibility for that onto Rogue; sweet-talk her vagina into cooperating or something to this regard. But it took not even 24 hours for my brother to dash my hopes of not having to encounter the devil's spawn.

"Told me you have to ask her yourself," he muttered around a mouthful of doner kebab, sauce dripping from the corner of his mouth onto his black shirt. Sometimes he really acts like a disgusting pig.

"How can you fuck her?! That bitch is such a nuisance. Wouldn't be surprised if she had all kind of kinks. Does she like to be peed on or some other shit?" I deadpanned, but Rogue just shrugged and continued to devour his lunch. Rolling my eyes at him, I turned to the door to get that annoying hurdle out of the way, my insides simmering with suppressed anger.

To top the unsavory circumstance of having to kowtow, I actually had to visit Week's Wonderful Wellness World. It's the business the sisters spend time at when they're not busy with their appointed day.

I'd rather watch grass grow.

(Okay, I admit, Thursday is a genius when it comes to manicures, really, and nobody gets a waxing done like Saturday. But still …)

I arrived twenty minutes later and the bitch made me wait another twenty for her. When she finally stepped into the entrance area of WWWW I was two seconds away from erupting into Special Effects and shorten the week to six days.

"Dee-dee!" she exclaimed in her fake squeaky-tires-voice and that damn nickname she always addressed me with, grabbed me and air kissed my cheeks. "Friday just told me _this moment_ you're waiting out here, else I would have come right away, of course."

"Of course." The hiss escaping me sounded like a rattlesnake, but I was fast to clear my throat and continue semi-nice, "If you've got a minute, there's a business matter I'd like to discuss with you."

"I'm all ears," she purred, her eyes gleaming viciously, nearly elated, because she knew I had to ask a favor from her. Stupid cow!

"You see …" I started and explained the situation to her, although I was quite sure Rogue already told enough for her to get the picture.

When I had finished I could have sworn for a second her eyes flashed red, her lips turning into a patronizing smirk. It took everything I had in me to keep seated and not jump over the small table between us to strangle her with her own, badly made, extensions.

"So," she drew the word out like bubblegum, hands and knees crossed, and looking downright diabolic. "If I see this correctly - and I'm always seeing stuff correctly - you want me to interfere with the schedules of those two individuals so no one else interferes there? Interesting."

That bitch would make me crawl on my knees to beg for her help, I knew it.

And somewhen, somewhere - when nobody would ever expect it - I would make her pay for that.

 **xXx**

Tuesday and I came to an understanding. The second day of the following week she would keep both businesses suspiciously quiet.

What the promise of front row seats of whatever in-designer she named at New York Fashion Week and a pair of Louboutin's newest shoe collection can do is baffling. I owe Cousin Beau big.

Step 1 had been completed, so the following days were spent with planning, arranging and trying to get every possible angle covered. Rogue was, to my surprise, completely invested into the scheme. As soon as research stopped he plunged into _Everlark's Meet Cute_.

Tuesday - the actual day - arrived faster than we anticipated. My brother and I decided to overlook one fatee each. Therefore I was at Katniss' place of work at the moment, waiting for the call from _Mellark's Bakery & Bistro_, while he took position with Peeta and his brother Rye.

"It's suspiciously quiet today," Gale muttered at that moment, his head buried somewhere in the depths of a shelf, sorting through various supplies.

"Geez, Gale!" Katniss glared at him, looking up from the book she was reading. Her feet were crossed on the desk in front of her while one finger absentmindedly twirled the end of her braid around. "Now you tempted fate."

 _Ha! If only you knew …_

I felt the familiar giddiness rising within me whenever one of my schemes was about to play out. A second later Rogue sent me the mental "Go", and with a snap of my fingers Gale had the urgent need to visit the bathroom just as the phone started to ring.

"See?" she grumbled after him, glaring at his retreating back.

With her partner indisposed, Katniss marked the page in her book, planted her feet back on the ground and grabbed the phone.

"AEH Plumbing, Katniss speaking. How may I help you?"

Being a deity has its perks, let me tell you. Like right now, when I wouldn't miss the other side of the conversation but simply could hear in with another snip of my fingers.

"Oh, hi. Hi Katniss," came the immediate response. "This is Peeta Mellark from _Mellark's Bakery & Bistro_. How are you this fine afternoon? It seems we have a little situation here at the shop were we'd need your help as soon as possible. You don't happen to have a free slot at the moment, do you?" His voice was in full charm-mode, even I fell a little bit for it. This guy was really good, silver-tongued and confident and enchanting.

It made Katniss smile a little, and her forest green actually faded into a lighter shade. _Only from talking!_ "Well, Mr. Mellark-"

"Peeta," he interrupted. "Just Peeta. Mr. Mellark makes me think of my father." He sounded like he was smiling when he said that.

Katniss chuckled. "Okay, Just Peeta. You're in luck, we have a slow day here. What's the problem?"

"My pipe burst and now the kitchen is flooded."

He said it so matter of factly, I could tell by the way she bit down on her bottom lip she had to hold back a bark of laughter. A flooded kitchen wasn't something to laugh about after all.

"I can see why this is kinda an emergency," Katniss answered instead, at the same time grabbing a pen and a piece of paper. "One important thing first: Did you turn off the main water-tap already?"

This was followed by a couple seconds of silence, before a muffled call was heard. "Rye! Run into the basement and turn off the main water-tap!" Some rustling and Peeta was back talking to Katniss. "Man, I feel really stupid right now."

Katniss laughed out loud at that. "Don't," she reassured in between chuckles. "These are exceptional circumstances, and the most logical things often don't come to mind right away. Give me the address and I'll be there as fast as I can."

Peeta gave her the details and after profuse thanks from his side and a little giggle and another promise to hurry from her's, they hung up and Katniss started to organise the things she would need for the repairs.

Her forest green soul-color was nearly invisible, and my inner warrior queen screamed in triumph. I loved when plans worked out!

Being totally engrossed in self-praise, I missed Gale stepping back into the office, whistling the Indiana Jones theme. Only when he stopped in surprise after discovering the not so small smile on his best friend's face, did I register his presence. "You look like … wait, how's the saying? Something with the cat and the canary. Or was it whipped cream? Whatev. You look like a freakin' cat who got the canary which rolled around in whipping cream to make dessert."

Katniss paused the packing and looked up, scowl back in place. "What?!"

"You're smiling like a goof, Kat. You _never_ do that. What happened?"

Okay, this was inconvenient, her forest green got a little intenser again. Gale Hawthorne stole all her magic mojo, and I couldn't just watch and let him ruin all my efforts. Once again I snaipped my fingers and the phone rang again. Katniss grabbed the keys from one of their working trucks, her cell and the couple supplies she gathered, and mentioned to Gale that she was heading out, which he simply acknowledged with a nod while picking up the phone.

Phew, another crisis averted. Yay me!

I spent the journey over to _Mellark's_ sitting on the roof of the working truck and singing along to _The Winner Takes It All_ , cutting off all my mental connections to simply enjoy my moment of victory. Man, I was a freakin' genius. Coming up with this plan was some really nice work … okay, with a little help from my idiot brother. Even I could admit that. Reluctantly.

The drive took about 20 minutes, and because I was impatient to fulfill my calling, to join the destined souls, to … yadda, yadda, yadda … Katniss _mysteriously_ caught a parking spot right in front of the shop.

Love me my finger snips, wrist bends and blinkings. They really come in handy in situations like these, you have no idea.

After gathering all her things, Katniss exited the car and walked over to the entrance with a visible spring in her step. Even her soul-color sizzled, splashes of orange already flickering up.

"Hello?" I heard her calling into the room as soon as the ringing of the little bell above the door had stopped. Even in that single word was a hint of excitement noticeable.

 _Just you wait, Missy,_ I tought. _You'll be in for the surprise of your life_.

"One moment, please!" the answering call came from the back, and suddenly everything within me froze.

That voice …

"What the fuck?!" I whispered to myself just as the swinging door to the kitchen was pushed open and instead of Peeta Mellark his brother Rye stepped into the shopfront.

His _applegreen soul-color_ brother!

"Hey, I tried to warn you, but you had to cut our mental connection," Rogue chose this moment to deadpan. "Not going to take any blame for this one."

" _What the fuck?!_ " I repeated, still completely flabbergasted, while I had to watch Rye Mellark's applegreen clashing nicely with Katniss' again very intense forest green. No traces of orange left. The shock sat so deep in my bones, I couldn't even follow their conversation. "Where's Peeta?"

"Away," came my brother's voice again from my right side. My head swiftly turned in his direction, and as soon as I saw his face, I knew something had gone wrong.

Something we hadn't anticipated.

But my heart didn't want to acknowledge that yet.

"What do you mean ' _away_ '? That's not possible!" My outburst was paired with a couple sparks flying around me, one even searing a small hole in Rogue's sweater. "We thought of everything! There's no way for him to be away. NO WAY!" I abruptly stopped when a single thought came to my mind. "Unless …" Murderous eyes turned once again to my brother. "Rogue! I swear to all deities-"

"Sorry, Sis," he interrupted quickly, hands raised in a placating manner. "This time I had nothing to do with it."

"Then what-"

"This is completely on yourself, Dee." With these words he handed me a folded piece of paper. As soon as I held it in hands, he took several steps away from me. In the background I saw Rye and Katniss laughing with each other.

 _Fucking great!_ My anger flared even higher. _It's the wrong fucking brother!_

Suppressing my frustration I unfolded the letter and started to read the couple lines in neat handwriting on it.

" _Let me explain a deal to you, Dee-dee: Party A agrees to arrange certain things if Party B can fulfill certain requirements. In other words: Next time you ask your incompetent cousin Beau to help out, maybe make sure he gets the instructions right. There's nothing I'm less interested in than sitting in the first row of Valentino's Fashion Show, when Cinna's the one I asked for. And what the fuck should I need last spring's Louboutin's for? They're like, so last season! Sorry, my dear, but in that case: No deal! Wish you a fabulous rest of the week! xoxo, Tuesday._ "

I had to read this effrontery twice more before fully registering what just had taken place.

"THAT FUCKING BITCH!?"

My scream - although being invisible and mute for the humans at the moment - made some cups on the counter shake, which made Katniss and Rye stop their conversation in surprise. At least something good came from my outburst. They went back to business, stepping together into the kitchen, but it didn't even register with me.

Later, after I calmed down, my brother told me my aura was actually in flames in that moment.

Fuming, I once again turned to Rogue. My Special Effects were in full swing, my voice sounding like a demon from the underworld. " _Explain_."

Rogue is a mischievous dumbass, but you have to give him credit for never being a coward, even when facing his irrational, pissed off, way more powerful, older sister.

"So, I'm pretty sure I don't have to explain the _Why_ …"

" _ROGUE_!"

"Okay, okay," he tried to calm the situation down. "You had just cut the mental connection, when Tuesday stepped through the door, pushed the message for you into my hands and then walked into the kitchen. I followed her, of course. Next thing I know she's blowing her voodoo-sparkles over the Mellark brothers before disappearing again. She didn't even say a single word the whole time. The blink of an eye later the telephone rings. A hysterical mother of a bride. Their wedding cake baker went out of business four days before the reception. Poof, just like that, and took their deposit, too! How could they feed cake to 350 people now, she asked. And because Peeta is a gentle soul, he reassured her and agreed to an emergency meeting, even though he desperately wanted to meet the pretty voice named Katniss. And then Rye agreed to take over the pipe-dilemma. Two minutes later you arrived."

After Rogue finished with the explanation, my hot rage had simmered down to bone deep frustration.

Two minutes. _Two fucking minutes_!

When the time was right the bitch was going to pay. I had all eternity to plan my revenge.

But first I had to figure out another way to make Katniss and Peeta finally find each other. I would sink with that ship. Everlark would be Endgame, if it was the last thing I ever accomplished.

Awesome! Everything the whole debacle helped to generate was me referring to them as Everlark now, too.

Thanks for fucking nothing.

 **TBC**


End file.
